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DECEMBER 9, 2024 21
Drive Time
Auto Dealers Reflect on a Solid Year, Project More of the Same in 2025
BY GEORGE O’BRIEN
[email protected]
That’s the case in every one of the many deal- erships Balise has in Western Mass., the Cape, and Rhode Island, said Sullivan, noting that, when it comes to inventory levels, things are almost back to what was seen pre-pandemic.
“Until this year, there were cars coming in
and cars going out, but there was zero stock to walk in and say, ‘I want to take something home today,’” he told BusinessWest. “We’re not back to totally normal levels now, but it’s getting a lot clos- er to what people would say is normal.”
Carla Cosenzi, president of TommyCar Auto Group, which boasts Nissan, Volkswagen, Hyun- dai, Volvo, and Genesis stores, agreed. In fact, she said that, in some cases, inventories even exceed pre-pandemic levels.
Which helps explain some of the aggressive incentives being offered by some of those brands, including 0% financing on a Nissan Rogue and
a $79-a-month lease deal on a Hyundai IONIQ 5 EV. And they help explain why, on the Monday of
“Until this year, there were cars coming in and cars going out, but there was zero stock to walk in and say, ‘I want to take something home today. We’re not back to totally normal levels now, but it’s getting a lot closer to what people would say is normal.”
‘A
lmost normal.’
Those are the two words that
Ben Sullivan, chief operating offi- cer for Balise Motor Sales, used
to describe 2024 when it comes to just about every aspect of the auto-sales industry.
After four years of relative turmoil generated by COVID and its aftereffects, things were back to normal — almost, said Sullivan. To get his point across, he referenced the southernmost end of the huge parking lot for Balise’s Chevy/GMC deal- ership on West Columbus Avenue in Springfield.
Even 18 months ago, it was so barren, several people asked Sullivan if Balise had sold the lot. Now, it is heavily populated with cars — especially the commercial vehicles that were visible several years ago but were simply not available due to supply-chain issues in the wake of COVID.
Ben Sullivan, seen here with a Honda Prologue, says sales of all-electric vehicles, as well as hybrids and plug-in hybrids, have been rising as consumers become more familiar with them.